The purpose of this ASCO Position Statement is to provide a summary of issues our members have raised about the role of PBMs in oncology, to share questions that have surfaced about PBM practices and their impact on physicians and patients, to assert ASCO’s immediate position on key issues, and to highlight areas of concern the Society plans to explore more deeply as part of a focused policy effort.
(Excerpt from drugchannels.net) Patients today are being asked to pay a significant share of prescription costs for more-expensive specialty drugs, because of high coinsurance amounts. Many patients also face a deductible for their prescriptions.These are either a combined medical-pharmacy benefit deductible or an annual prescription drug deductible that was separate from any general annual deductible.
Copayment offset programs (also called copay cards or coupons) have traditionally covered a beneficiary’s out-of-pocket costs and/or deductible for a brand-name specialty drug.
For the 2018 benefit plan year, however, many plan sponsors are adopting a copay accumulator approach that alters the conventional scenario. The impact is significant for cancer patients needing assistance to pay for pharmaceutical therapies.
Here are 3 articles to learn more about this industry trend and a download to the NCODA CoPay Accumulator brochure to help educate your patients as they manage the financial impact of copay accumulator programs.
PRINCETON, N.J., June 7, 2018 – Taiho Oncology, Inc. today announced that, in an effort to further support access for patients and their LONSURF® treatment, the co-pay for all dose strengths of LONSURF has been reduced from $30 to $0 per treatment cycle. The co-pay reduction, which took effect on May 1, 2018, is available to all patients with commercial prescription insurance coverage for LONSURF.
RealGiDo study results showed median time on treatment and time to progression of 18.7 and 20.8 months, respectively, were not impacted by dose modifications with Gilotrif® (afatinib) as first-line therapyGilotrif safety profile observed in real-world setting showed that there were no new safety signals
Ridgefield, Conn., May 31, 2018 – Boehringer Ingelheim today announced results from a retrospective, observational real-world study assessing the impact of dose adjustments of Gilotrif® (afatinib) on safety and efficacy in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study showed that dose adjustment with Gilotrif helped improve patient tolerability while maintaining treatment efficacy and reduced the frequency and intensity of drug reactions. These findings, which were consistent with clinical trials, were published online by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) n advance of its 2018 annual conference. Read article .
Out of 6,400+ total scientific abstracts, the American Society of Clinical Oncology selected an NCODA abstract for online publication for the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. Through the abstract titled: Cost avoidance through the medically integrated dispensary (MID) for oral chemotherapy: Utilizing the NCODA cost avoidance and waste tracker, we were able to present collective intervention outcome data that resulted in the cost avoidance in the millions of dollars. We would like to thank all the participating NCODA members who have helped provide a stronger voice and another milestone for our collaborative mission to improve oral oncology care at Medically Integrated Dispensing Organizations. It is through our members that NCODA can further advocate the financial influence and positive change that MID Organizations can provide.
Read the entire abstract here
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